NEA, IKEA to give out free recycling bins to 18,000 residents in new HDB precincts
SINGAPORE — About 18,000 residents of Built-to-Order (BTO) flats in new HDB precincts will be receiving vouchers to redeem free recycling bins from 24 August.
This is part of a new recycling initiative jointly announced by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and IKEA Singapore in a media release on Thursday (1 August). It aims to inspire more households to recycle by making it easier for them.
In the next few months, eligible residents of BTO flats in new HDB precincts, such as MacPherson, Bidadari, Sembawang and Sengkang, will receive their vouchers by mail.
Each voucher can be used to redeem a free recycling bin at either IKEA Tampines or IKEA Alexandra.
“This is happening for the first time in an HDB living environment. For the HDB households which will benefit from this new initiative, the in-home recycling bin makes recycling things more convenient than disposing them as garbage,” said Tan Meng Dui, NEA’s chief executive officer.
“The recycling bin also brings the ‘recycling right’ message right into the homes of these residents.”
Bin label with recycling tips
Each recycling bin – which is made from 60 per cent recycled plastic – has a prominent blue label, which comes with recycling tips like ensuring that recyclables are free from food and liquids, and rinsing bottles and containers before recycling them.
A typical household can accumulate recyclables for at least a few days before depositing them into the blue recycling bin at the bottom of the block or recycling chutes on the common floor landing.
NEA will also be giving out fridge magnets during the recycling bin redemption period, to guide households on what can or cannot be recycled.
60 per cent of households recycle regularly
In 2018, NEA and the Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources conducted household recycling surveys which found that around 60 per cent of Singapore households recycle regularly.
While the survey indicated that convenience is an important enabling factor for recycling, respondents also revealed that the most common reason for not recycling was that they had too few items to recycle.
To increase awareness on recycling, NEA provides information on how and what to recycle, as well as the locations of the nearest recycling bins and recyclables collection points, through its website, social media and the myENV mobile app.
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